Wabi Sabi or the art of Decay

      Ah, the forlorn sight of history ignored, wasted, decomposed, and expressed in warped geometric shadows...why do I find this beautiful?  Perhaps because it says more clearly than any words what the ultimate fate of all things will be...decay, and ultimately disappearance...

     Some inner voice, the preserver, wants to shout..."Save this! It's important to the story of that part of Washington State centered on Chelan and Douglas Counties.  The vast open spaces around Waterville and the immense winters long kept these people isolated until machinery capable of keeping roads open in blizzards and snowdrifts from wind.

     Nonetheless, standing before this house brings imagery of a very hardworking isolated family whose neighbors were miles away, and who needed to be prepared for harsh winters.   Perhaps, as a European born child after WWII in Amsterdam with memories of recent war torn buildings I am unconsciously also drawn to my early childhood, as I see the comings and goings of decades and centuries of buildings, people, artifacts, and the lack of interest we show in even the previous few decades, like JFK's assasination almost as antique in the mind of youth as Abraham Lincoln's.

    Words like abondonment, neglect, waste, and a sense of sadness that we have come to this, that families no longer have an option to live 'off' the land to supply their needs unless they can carry a huge mortgage.